Can You Forgive a Job Hopper

Can You Forgive a Job Hopper As I sit down to write this blog, I do so fully conscious that the content of this blog MAY offend some of my readers. No offence is intended but I just have to get this off my chest as I think someone has to stand up and tell this group of people some home truths If you have moved every 3-6 months in recruitment and you cannot show consistent employment with achievement versus a target, of at least 12-18 months in ONE employer, then are you a massive risk to your next employer. Fact. There â€" I said it. Now please, if you wish, read on as to why I find it hard to be charitable about recruitment job hoppers: Am I the rarity or the norm? I am a rarity in recruitment. Well, for lots of reasons but, heck, I am modest. One of the main reasons I am rare is that having been in recruitment for 15 yrs and I have only worked for 3 companies in that time. 3 years in company 1, 3 years in company two and this is my 9th year of trading as Qui Recruitment. I meet a lot of recruiters obviously, that’s my job after all and it just shocks me how some of those people have actually had as many jobs as I have in a short time frame or maybe a year or so. Sometimes I even interview people who have moved every few months! The “blip”: Now I am not a mug, nor am I a heartless, ruthless woman, so I am always open to giving the benefit of the doubt to anyone who seems to hold valid reasons for wanting to leave their current employer. I will absolutely forgive a “blip” or even two, if the references and the reasons stack up. But beyond that? And if someone hasn’t yet forged a career choice yet, ie. early 20s. Only just realising what their aspirations are then I can wholly forgive a few jobs here and there. After all, I was 24 and a ½ when I discovered my true vocation! ROI versus ROI? I watch from the sidelines as other less discerning R2R’s scavenge the job boards and LinkedIn (another job board, let’s face it!) and place people who quite frankly have never held down a permanent job for more than a year! If I was representing them, I would advise them to put “freelancer” on their profile to dissuade people from judging them as a hopper joking! However, in all seriousness, I can’t believe that someone would pay a fee for such a high risk person unless the company hiring them were an equally high risk for the potential employees. I don’t recruit on behalf of risk companies so it is an impasse for both and for me! One size does NOT fit all! I know there is a myth that you should move jobs every 2 years otherwise there is the fear you will become stale, not show progression or become institutionalised. There is no “one size fits” all recommendation of course not! If you are being developed and progressed in your employer, why would you move on regardless? Judge your position on its own merits and don’t be persuaded to move if you aren’t the one driving the notion! The amount of times I hear that someone moved (and is subsequently moving on) because their friend suggested/headhunted them to this shiny new company and it hasn’t worked out. What’s right for one, isn’t always right for the other! The perfect 10? Now I am not naive people move around, I know, and not every candidate can show a perfect CV (you know, 2:1 in a proper degree from a proper Uni having gained 3 good academic A levels, 2 years in their first job showing progression and then 2 years in a recruitment role, moving into 360, developing own business, perfect shiny teeth, funny, good looking you get the picture!) But there is something worrying about the trend that in candidate short markets (which we all know R2R is and most perm markets clearly are), that companies compromise by hiring risks. Then all that happens, is your accentuate the cycle, as you know that the client who takes the risk will be a risk and so on. Conversely to most of my competitors, I advise my clients against taking risks if they aren’t certain asking for the “no” rather than the “yes”. Maybe that’s why a lot of them trust me exclusively and why my placements have longevity rather than running a charlatan desk like some R2Rs I hear of, who seem to place then have numerous credits falling out? Be brave and bold CHANGE the pattern: Anyway, I digress. I have never hired a job hopper. I probably wouldn’t ever hire a job hopper as once you show people you move on every 3 months or 6 months, how do you break that cycle? You need to change career, seriously. If it hasn’t worked in one company, I can totally forgive it, but more than 3 in one sector in less than 2 years, sorry, it’s YOU that is the common denominator. Make a brave and bold decision “I am NOT right for recruitment” it is not a reflection on you personally. Life is too short to be in a career that you don’t suit and doesn’t suit you. So my benchmark, if you are in recruitment and you have moved more than 3 times in 2 years, something is not right. And that is YOU in RECRUITMENT. Do you agree or am I harsh? Am I just too old and impatient now to rub people’s egos? Love to hear your thoughts on job hoppers and if you are a job hopper in recruitment, how do you feel when you read this?

The Best Business Decisions I Made in 2016 (Podcast #69) - Classy Career Girl

The Best Business Decisions I Made in 2016 (Podcast #69) I wanted to go behind the scenes today and share with you some of the crucial business decisions I made this year that completely changed our business and life. Because to be real, a year ago I was a little scared. Things were a bit up in the air and we changed our business model. There is so much that is possible. I wish you could see all the decisions I have made in the past 6 years. Some of them were pretty crappy decisions. But some of them were life-changing. Click play below or  right click here and save link as  to download or subscribe on iTunes  here on this link: If you are enjoying our podcast, please leave us a review on iTunes! It would mean the world. Thank you! So a little back story first about something that drives me crazy about our topic today. The comments that drive me crazy on my blog are when people think they cant do what I have done because they think I am different and make more money or have more time than them. The only difference is the decisions that I make.  The decisions that I started making way back in 2010. Most likely, I may just be one step ahead of you. Maybe 2017 is the year that you make some really great decisions and you change the rest of your life. How does that sound? Time to be in control. time to get what you want. Time to go all in and not hold back. There is so much that is possible. I wish you could see all the decisions I have made in the past 6 years. Some of them were pretty crappy decisions. But some of them were life-changing. One that comes to mind was hiring my assistant, Lor. That was one of my best decisions ever when I was just starting and she still is AMAZING and works for CCG today. I want you to be really mindful of the decisions you are making each and every day. Is what you are doing today helping you get to where you want to go? If it’s limited beliefs and thinking that you can’t do what someone else has done, you need to stop thinking that way. I want to behind the scenes today and share my business with you. I want to share with you some of the crucial business decisions I made this year that completely changed our business and life. Because to be real, a year ago I was a little scared. Things were a bit up in the air and I changed our business model. After 5 years of doing individual coaching and group coaching and earning a great living doing that and being able to quit my job and have my husband join us in Team CCG. But I realized through a lot of self-reflection that I wanted to be doing way more teaching instead of individual and group work. And that leads me to one of my best decisions of 2016. The Best Business Decisions I Made in 2016 1. Transitioning to a Membership Site Model In Q1 of this year, we probably had about 50 courses that we were planning to make mini-bootcamps for the site and just sell them individually. And then I joined Lynda.com and I realized the value of having all the content on just one site for others to access themselves. Even though I previously had a membership site in 2012 that I had to close, The Get Ahead Club, I knew that the membership model was still the best fit for me. But I needed to make the transition. And it was hard but we did it anyways. The beginning of 2016 was rough but John and I stayed focus on our end goal, just growing the membership. We also started two membership sites at the same time in April. Don’t do that. That was one of the bad decisions along the way. We are happy we just dug in and did it now but it was definitely tough growing two membership sites at the same time. As I write this we have over 330 members in our membership sites and we literally started at 0 in April. That’s some crazy growth due to some other amazing business decisions we made. 2. Attending Infusionsoft ICON Event Infusionsofts ICON event was the first event John and I attended together. It wasn’t cheap because we had to pay for an Airbnb for a week and host my parents to watch Mila so we could attend the event BUT it was a game-changer for so many reasons. My husband is an Infusionsoft  superstar so we both really split up and learned as much as we can. There were a few speakers that we heard at the event that changed the direction of our company. The first one that comes to mind was the ICON winner, Nate Shaw, of the Brooklyn Music Factory. His business model was monthly membership and I just couldn’t get it out of my head how stable that seemed when you knew you had a lot of members paying you month after month. It had to be something I needed to get to. Over and over again I kept seeing membership models everywhere. I had to get in on it. I already had the content and of course, loved producing the content. So instead of selling all of our courses individually, we decided to package everything up and sell 2 membership sites. Love Your Career Formula and Corporate Rescue Plan. But, how were we going to make sales happen fast because we basically were starting over from scratch…enter another amazing decision. Note: Infusionsoft is an advanced email marketing and sales system. You can learn more here. 3. Investing in Sixth Division I’ve always been a fan of investing in getting coaching for myself. But this year was different. Instead of coaching and training in the beginning of the year, we needed an Infusionsoft consultant to help us take our marketing campaigns to the next level. We joined Infusionsoft in 2015 and we were doing ok. But, we knew we could be using the tool’s benefits way more. So we hired Sixth Division for a half day consulting (not cheap) and it changed our entire business. They created a campaign for us that we have been able to rinse and repeat as well as set up so much automation behind the scenes all leading to our membership sites. In the long run, I can help way more people now. Woohoo! If you have infusionsoft and need some help, email us at info@classycareergirl.com and I’ll make an introduction personally to these guys at Sixth Division.  They just rock. 4. Investing in TRIBE   Now my August, we were doing sort of ok. Both membership sites were plateauing at about 50 members each which was great for just starting in April. But, I knew I could help more people and I was crazy stressed. Even a doctor told me I needed to decrease my stress. So enter Stu Mclaren who I had kind of been aware of for years. He created Wishlist Member which I have been using for probably about 4 years then. I knew he had worked with Michael Hyatt to grow Platform University into the giant it is today. So when he launched is membership site course, which was not cheap at all, we stretched and made it work. Tribe was life-changing. Stu modeled something that you don’t see online these days…like ever. I shared so many of his values and beliefs and he’s overall just a nice guy and that shows in everything he did and is still doing for that course. My business will be “before TRIBE” and “after TRIBE because since taking the course, our members grew and our retention rates increased. More importantly, I have less stress managing two membership sites. Yay! I know I’ll be using what I learn in that course for years and years to come and I am so glad I invested iso much in education this year. Things are finally starting to click. Note: I almost made some horrible decisions investing my money in education this year. You have to be so careful these days!! Really investigate who you are giving your money to. I had a “million dollar” coach tell me that I could never help 500 women launch their dream careers and businesses by the end of the year (that’s already been done earlier this month) and I had another “million-dollar” coach completely change the program the day after I paid for it. I got my money back on that one. All that to say, be careful, do your homework and make sure you don’t throw away your money online these days. Stu’s course is closed now but you can learn more about him at stu.me. 5. I Brought the Podcast Back Yay!! We had taken a 2-year break and in June after listening to a Gary Vaynerchuk video about how content creators are not producing enough content (guilty!) I dove back in. I had been hearing so much from other coaches that I needed to start delegating more so that’s why I hadn’t been so involved in the content. But, that’s when I decided to stop listening to them and start doing more of what I do love, creating content! We’ve published a weekly show since June and have some exciting things planned for the podcast now in 2017. Our downloads have quadrupled and I think this was a great decision since now more people can listen during their commutes! Make sure you are subscribed on iTunes! Click play below or  right click here and save link as  to download or subscribe on iTunes  here on this link: 6. Adding Guest Contributors It is hard to give up control of your blog posts but do you know how many amazing other writers are out there! My mission has always been to help others and give back. So by hosting guest contributors it not only helps them get more eyeballs on their products and services but it also helps our readers by giving them more tips and advice that I know can help them. For us, the amount our page views have grown this year is so dramatic and it was mostly due to daily blog posts because of our amazing guest contributors. In 2015, our TOTAL page views for the entire year were 442,000. Right now, average page views PER MONTH is 455,000 at Classycareergirl.com.  I focused a lot on page views this year and still will as my goal for next year is to get to over 1 million page views per month.  Note that this is mostly organic traffic. We pay some for Facebook ads and Pinterest ads but not that much. 7. Brought On Interns and a Community Manager September was big for us at Team CCG. We expanded the team and hired our amazing Community Manager, Aida, to help us manage the Facebook group for our 2 membership sites. We also hired 7 interns to help us in different areas of the company as well. My goal is to train them and teach them everything I know to start delegating way more to these ladies into 2017. 8. Focusing on Instagram and Pinterest Where we focused this year really shows now. Your daily hard work will pay off too! Just like our page views have skyrocketed this year because we focused on growing them, our Instagram and Pinterest accounts skyrocketed as well. We went from 1,500 followers on Instagram to almost 7,000 today and our Pinterest account when from 4,000 followers to 18,000 today. More people are now seeing our articles on Pinterest which is where most of our traffic is coming from. Traffic from Instagram is tiny but I know long term this is a great brand recognition tool that I need to keep up on. In 2016, I also separated my personal Instagram from my business and started growing my personal Instagram as well as created an Instagram that is focused on one of our membership sites, Corporate Rescue Plan. So I think that is a great way to get the word out to more people as those accounts start growing now too. 9. Weekly  FB Lives I love FB lives. I can connect to my community so much. I do weekly facebook lives in our Corporate Rescue Plan FB group and it just allows me to answer questions on a weekly basis and get to know our members so much more. If you are not using FB Live in your business, do it now. 10. Focusing on Growing Our Facebook Group I believe our numbers for the FB group at the beginning of the year were around 1,000 and we are over 4,200 today. My goal has always been about community building. Changing it back to my brand name of the Classy Career Girl network was a great decision as well and we created rules for the group! Adding a community manager to help me manage it all was a great decision too and just being more present there this year. The leads we have coming from that FB group are very special so I want to continue nurturing it and also just connect people in the group to support each other out. You can join the group here. 11. Focusing On Passion Projects That Dont  Earn Money Passion projects like The #MyStartupStory and our FREE, gorgeous 90 Day Planner update. I poured my heart into them and learned that people don’t just want a cheat sheet or a checklist, to optin these days. You have to give them something that you would actually charge for. My Startup Story was a ton of work! I didn’t even sell anything at the end of it. It was truly just a list builder. I gave out a ton of branding advice that I know I could charge for but people loved it! The 90 day planner I worked on for an entire month of August and had it designed professionally. I lost money on it but the amount of people it is helping and will continue to help is incredible. No regrets. These were passion projects that I get to do now because I have a membership site model that isn’t always open. I am not always selling which is so nice. I can do fun free stuff that I get excited about and not sell anything at the end. I love that.   12.Sharing My Story and Being More Open It’s not been the easiest year despite all of the above successes in our business that’s for sure. In August I had my third miscarriage which wiped me out and put a lot of stuff on the back burner so I could focus on grieving and going in and out of doctor appointments. One of the best things I did this time though is write about my journey. My first two miscarriages were before my daughter was born and I felt so alone. This time, I decided to share my journey and joined the first week of the Capture Your Grief in October on my personal Instagram page. They gave me writing prompts and writing through the tears really helped me during that month. 13. Thinking Bigger We have a big dream and vision at CCG. For the first time ever, our business is scalable. It doesn’t just rely on me working indivdiually coaching my clients. I believe our company is going to achieve some incredible growth in 2017. We are set up to make that happen. More importantly though, in 2016 we helped 500 women launch their dream careers and businesses and we are right on track to help 2,000 by 2018 (or sooner!).  It’s time to create some new goals and missions here at Team CCG. We will be back in the new year ready to share those with you. Thank you to everyone who listens to our podcast. We truly appreciate you!! Two quick things: If you are not yet in our Classy Career Girl Network FB Group please join us to get support to launch your dream career at www.classycareergirl.com/ladies. Also, our Freedom Workshop is coming up on December 29th. I’d love to have you join us. It’s an entirely free workshop that is going to help you become your own boss in 2017. We’ve been working really hard on this training series for you and it’s literally the best thing I have ever done. If you want to build a business that makes an impact or you have a business and you just want to scale and automate even more in 2017, you can sign up at www.corporaterescueplan.com/freedom

Top 10 Things That Make Formatting CVs a Nightmare

Top 10 Things That Make Formatting CVs a Nightmare Formatting candidate CVs is  an absolute joy said no one ever. It can be quite a hideously repetitive, frustrating process that takes way  longer than it should, especially when all you really want to do is send your amazing candidate straight over to your client but cant because the CV is pumped full of weird formatting tricks. For a third party recruitment consultant, all CVs sent to clients generally need to be branded and look the same when they leave the inbox.  They  need to look high-calibre. No client wants to receive a messy / all-over-the-place shortlist of CVs that all look completely different (unless they are meant to be creative pieces in themselves). For all those recruiters out there spending hours each week fiddling with your candidates CVs to make them  look neat and on-brand, youre not alone and your pain is felt around the world by  others. Candidates, if youre reading this, know that there are definitely  things you could do to make your recruiters life simpler. A great place to start is by avoiding these 10 things that really do make formatting your CV a nightmare, sorry (not sorry): 1.  PDF docs Unless youve got one of those programmes that converts it into word,  PDF documents are actually the pits. You cant make changes. And while you can copy and paste chunks of text, its weird and clunky and is anything BUT a seamless process. Weird paragraphing and symbols are pulled through. Honestly, PDF docs are such a headache. 2. Photos images No. Just, no. If anything, photos are just annoying, because they must be removed and often the paragraphs are wrapped around them and its just irritating, okay? 3. Weird fonts You couldnt just pick one? In what world are  headings supposed to be in a different font to the body of text? And while were at it, you are not from 1901, Lucinda is not appropriate. What are you going to pull next, Webdings? Sheesh. 4.  Changing tenses Pick a style of writing and stick to it. Are you opting for third person or first person? This is no time to sit on the fence. Do you realise how much time it takes to correct these mistakes? Do you?! 5.  No chronology When candidates have ordered their experience according to skill sets and industries, not by time, that is a headache and a half. Matching up dates isnt fun for anyone. Just tell me where you are now, then work back from there. Simple. 6. Massive gaps Massive gaps just require back and forward emails and phone calls to get to the bottom of why there are holes in the chronology! Recruiters need to be able to explain gaps to their clients on behalf of the candidate. 7. Landscape orientation Unfortunately this is not as simple as switching to portrait. Ooh Ive an idea! How about you just put it in portrait to begin with?  Perfect! 8. Split-page paragraphs Two columns on one page? No thanks. When one puts this kind of formatting into a document, thats it, its basically a write-off the page will never be the same again. Switching back to one column is horrendous experience. 9. Stubborn hidden formulas My last point led me here. When CVs are riddled with weird hidden formulas that prevent you from doing simple things like removing line breaks or centring heading, thats when the real nightmare starts. Its like a bad dream you cant get out of! 10. Capslock Your experience at me!! To all the candidates who use that weird font that is lower-case size text, but upper case letters, please refrain. Its almost impossible to change. And there you have it. The top 10 things that make formatting a candidates CV an absolute nightmare. Sure, recruiters could ask candidates to do all this for them, but sometimes, candidates cant action it straight away, and we all know that time is of the essence for recruiters  it has to be done NOW! Please, thank you and excuse me. Cheers.

[Special Event Announcement] Classy Career Girls Night Out - Classy Career Girl

[Special Event Announcement] Classy Career Girls Night Out I am so excited to announce our first ever Classy Career Girls Night Out!! If you are an ambitious professional woman and are looking for a better way to balance the most important aspects of your life without having to sacrifice yourself, youll love this meetup. Meet like-minded women who refuse to drift through life and instead want to create work and a life they really love. Get ideas from each other, collaborate and support each other. This networking event is for women who are juggling their work and life and really want to make a difference in the world while enjoying the work they do.   You can learn more and sign-up for Classy Career Girls Night Out here. The Classy Career Girl  community ranges from young professionals to second career changers, from fast climbing corporate gals to empire-building entrepreneurs. We all carry the same life-long desire to find the career we were born to do, to be happy and to live a life of meaning. We hope to be a place where each woman can thrive and make a difference. Note: This isnt your ordinary meetup or networking event. This event is a live meetup of a private community that is growing rapidly online, the Classy Career Girl Network.  This growing international online group is a community of over 2,000 women all over the world helping and supporting each other.  If you are looking for some ambitious ladies who truly want to support you and cheer you on, welcome to your new tribe. How do YOU balance it all? Lets share our secrets. This event is organized by Anna Runyan and Sarah Argenal. Anna is the  CEO and Founder of ClassyCareerGirl.com, Forbes Top 35 Most Influential Career Site and E-Learning Platform for ambitious women. Sarah is a  Lifestyle Strategist  at Working Parent Resource. Sarah helps working moms find a more meaningful balance between their career, a loving marriage, quality time with their kids, and their own health and well-being.   Hosted at Gold Leaf South Park. Gold Leaf was established in 2016 by husband and wife duo, Kevin and Sonya Kemp. With Sonyas experience in art and design, and Kevins background in business, owning a shop together has been their biggest dream. Light refreshments will be provided. There is no cost to attend but fair warning…the event will be held inside the cutest store you’ll ever see so you may want to bring some shopping money.   You can learn more and sign-up for Classy Career Girls Night Out here.

The Benefits of Adding Non-marketing Majors to Your Marketing Team CareerMetis.com

The Benefits of Adding Non-marketing Majors to Your Marketing Team Many hiring managers quickly breeze over the education section when writing job descriptions or reading resumes for marketing positions. They think that a marketing job requires a marketing major, so they use this degree as a filter to sort candidates quickly. Oftentimes, though, this results in marketing managers weeding out applicants who have skills and experience that would be valuable to their marketing team.By discouraging brilliant strategists from other disciplines, they risk missing out on applicants who can adapt in this quickly changing field. For this reason, it’s worth it when hiring your next marketing team memberto look beyond their educational background. In many cases, professionals from other fields can benefit your team in unique and unexpected ways.What Is Marketing?evalevalBefore diving into hiring for a marketing position, we should first take a look at the many components that comprise this career. Marketing is a bit two faced. On one side, it entails communi cations, writing, design, the arts, and a host of presentational elements. These are the client facing attributes, the ones that convince an audience and clarify a brand.On the other side is an in depth understanding of this audience. This includes research, quantitative data, and qualitative insights, all of which have to be integrated with social sciences such as history and behavioral psychology. In other words, it can’t just look nice; it has to be effective. It’s a tall order, which is why a career field this intricate requires a team with diverse skills and perspectives.What a Marketing Degree Can’t Do?As the field itself becomes more complex, many companies are looking beyond degrees for new ways to assess talent. Whether this assessment is in the form of rigorous case study interviews or a universal test for marketing, experts hold dozens of opinions about the best ways to sort applicants. One thing that many agree on though is that holding a degree in marketing is no longer a fast pass to getting the job. It’s no longer a reliable indicator of the mindset and skills needed to succeed in the field.A degree in marketing offers theory, not grit. It can’t guarantee an insightful, curious, adaptable attitude. More important than a curriculum in advertising is the ability to be inquisitive about consumers and about our changing world. What gives certain marketers an edge in the industry is putting themselves out into the world and exploring different paths. So while a marketing degree still has value, it can no longer single handedly provide the tenacity necessary to thrive in the industry.The Multidisciplinary ModelMarketing is comprised of multiple areas of study, so not only are contributions from other backgrounds valuable â€" they’re vital. From copyrighting to data analytics to project management, take note of areas where your team might have talent gaps. Say, for example, you have plenty of data analysts to support your campaigns with num bers. While you might think these staticians are the superheroes of your team, don’t forget that every hero needs a sidekick.Maybe the sidekick you need looks like a historian, able to make sense of these trends over space and time. Or maybe your company needs a sidekick who looks more like a sociologist to give those numbers human meanings. Whichever is the case, someone who can apply specialized experience or unique outlook is more valuable than an extra person to recite textbook marketing practices.The different careers within marketingare often more specialized than hiring managers realize. For example, someone with a niche data science background will have a more in-depth understanding of market research than someone with a general marketing degree. More tailored knowledge is often more useful than generic knowledge. That being said, choosing a marketing hire with a beneficial academic or career background is rarely cut and dry. Your marketing team knows best where there are opportunities and gaps to fill, so consult them first when deciding the skill sets to look for. Also consider seeking guidance from a marketing recruiter.evalRecruiting firmsexist for this exact purpose. They know how to scour resumes and cover letters for skills and experience geared towards the specialized roles in marketing.What Non-Marketing Majors Can ProvidePerspective: Marketers who come from different backgrounds can step outside of the traditional business model to show a new side to a problem or approach. They can expand your team’s point of view to solutions that you had not seen before.Methodology: Each academic discipline has a slightly different process. While the marketing methods are tried and true, incorporating aspects of other methodologies can help campaigns run more smoothly. For instance, an advertising campaign can benefit from the scientific method. While you don’t always think about gathering materials or employing t-tests to evaluate progress in marketi ng, practices such as these could add much needed structure to the planning phase or insight to the evaluation phase of a campaign.Attention to Detail: Having an eye for detail holds a different meaning in each academic context. English majors are able to evaluate linguistics, syntax, and connotation to maximize audience impact whereas design and fine arts majors can evaluate composition and presentational elements to achieve visual impact. When it comes to influencing consumers in the buying process, your team could benefit from having someone who can offer this level of specificity.Ideation: evalDiverse professional backgrounds also make for productive brainstorming sessions. People with varied educations have been trained to see the world in distinct ways.Digital gurus will offer up suggestions that are unique from those of creative writers. That’s how innovation occurs. That’s how teams achieve detailed productions that naturally differentiate themselves from the typical mar keting campaigns. Pulling talent from various sources is the best way to protect against stagnation.So, if you aren’t screening for a marketing education, how on earth do you complete first round screening?While hiring for marketing position is not as clear cut as for position for other industries, there are a few key elements to look for on resumes and cover letters.Adaptability: Other industries prefer consistency in a resume, but marketing urges flexibility. A candidate who pursued multiple majors or participated in organizations outside of their field knows how to apply their talents in different contexts. They can put their skills to use in unconventional ways. In addition, a varied background shows that they were curious and daring enough to step out of their comfort zone, which marketers should be willing to do daily.Initiative: Look for examples of times applicants have been proactive in their academic and professional careers. Taking the initiative to explore new career p aths or lead projects shows that they can see the bigger picture. It demonstrates that they have experience charting unfamiliar territory.Curiosity: More important than what a candidate learned in school is what they sought to learn outside the classroom. Do they make a conscious effort to learn new skills and widen their horizons? If they are just entering the marketing field, look for initiatives they’ve taken to familiarize themselves with the craft. A degree in marketing is not essential; however, making the effort to learn the customs of advertising, whether through an online class or a club, shows willingness to learn as well as respect for the field.Of course, it would be easier to file away non-marketing majors when looking for new recruits to your team. But it will only save time in the short run. If you simply need another helping hand, then this straightforward method will suffice.On the other hand, if you want an asset for your team, someone who can contribute unique k nowledge and methodology, then it’s worth the extra effort to look beyond their degree. In the long run, it will help your marketing team climb to new heights.

10 Ways To Polish Your Social Media Presence - CareerEnlightenment.com

5. Join industry chats.Seek out Twitter chats for the industry you’re transitioning to and join in the weekly or bi-weekly designated conversations. This is a great way to ramp  up your industry connections, build a following on social media, and showcase your industry knowledge.6. Don’t be afraid to network.Whether it’s with thought leaders in the industry youre transitioning to or employees of the company you’re hoping to someday work for, online networking  is crucial to your job search success. Begin engaging online by commenting, tweeting, or sharing relevant content, and then consider taking the networking  off of social media through email, phone call, or even Skype.7. Monitor your privacy settings.While Facebook is becoming  a big player in the job search, if by chance you prefer to keep your profile as a more personal hub, make sure your privacy settings follow suit. The same  goes for other personal social media channels. You may even consider creating personal, pri vate accounts or usernames to ensure you’re not detracting from  your job search.8. Treat every social media profile like it’s your resume.Once your privacy settings are in place, all professional social media profiles should be treated as if they’re your cover letter, resume, and portfolio. They should act as a  glowing example of your professionalism, industry knowledge, and any other skills or traits you’d like to showcase.9. Participate in some humble bragging.One of the most effective ways to tout your know-how is by showcasing things you’re proud of. For instance, avid blogging will also benefit your job  search, so why not share your posts via your social media accounts to garner views and conversation? You can also post recent work of media attention  you’ve received.10. Go above and beyond.So you’ve got a polished Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook account, but why stop there? Uncover other beneficial social media websites like  YouTube, Quora, Github, About.me, and begin building your presence on  them. You never know what will push you to the top of a candidate list.Before you embark on your career change, make sure your social media is perfectly polished to depict you as a great candidate in your new career field.Did your social media presence help you land a job?

10 Tips to Get Promoted in 2018 Part 2 - Hallie Crawford

10 Tips to Get Promoted in 2018 Part 2 Is a promotion on your list of goals for this year? If so, you are not alone. Research shows that 51% of employees are considering a new job. However, don’t let this deter you from reaching out in your industry. 84% of organizations anticipate a shortfall in the minimum number of qualified leaders over the next five years. Qualified and engaged leaders are urgently needed and you could be one of them! In the first article in this series, we discussed possible obstacles to reaching out for a promotion and the first 5 tips to get a promotion. This article will discuss the next 5 tips to reach out to the next level in your career. (Make sure to download your free copy of our Job Search Worksheet to stay organized as you work towards your promotion!) 1. Be confident. Your attitude is critical to success because your attitude affects your actions, which will affect your outcome. 85% of our clients say they are their biggest obstacle to their career goals. Watch out for the Impostor Syndrome and create positive affirmations for any negative thoughts to keep them in check. 2. Be a leader. You may have a strong work ethic, but that isn’t enough to get a promotion. Superiors look for people who show leadership potential to advance them within an organization. Ask yourself if you are truly being a leader in your current job. Are you being your best self? It’s not about perfection every single day, but we all know if we’re stepping up to the plate or not. You know your potential- are you living into it? Consider whether you need to: Do more to motivate your fellow coworkers or employees. Take a greater leadership role in meetings. Offer suggestions to improve processes in your department. Develop your EI (Emotional Intelligence). Are there times when you’re doing the bare minimum rather than going the extra mile? Take time each week to take stock of what worked, what didn’t, or what you could have done differently to improve your leadership potential. 3. Ask for and implement constructive criticism. We all receive constructive criticism (and sometimes not so constructive) from various sources, even peers. If you seem to not respond well to criticism from any source, either by defending your actions, blaming someone else, or dismissing their comments, this doesn’t put you in a good light. This can prevent your boss from recommending you for a promotion. And even if you take the feedback well, but don’t make improvements over time, they won’t be impressed by your performance so it won’t matter what you’ve said. Action tip: Take few minutes tonight as well to think about how you react when you receive criticism. Ask a trusted friend or colleague how they perceive your ability to handle negative feedback and how they perceive you at work so you can get input on what your credibility, reputation, and/or brand is like. Consider whether what they tell you is the image you want to portray and work towards improving it if needed. Cultivate humility, a necessary soft skill, which will making accepting criticism much easier. 4. Find a mentor. Too many professionals don’t have a mentor. Having one can be a critical piece to your career success and progression. If you are looking to advance your career, finding a mentor in your industry, inside or outside your company, can make a big difference in your ability to move up. Mentors can advise you the qualities you should develop, the skills you need, and give you the all-important insider knowledge on what makes your industry tick, plus an objective opinion on how you’re doing. You can try to learn it all on your own, but it’s much better if you have someone you can confide in and who can offer you sound advice so you don’t have to try to advance by trial and error. 5. Prepare and conduct the meeting. When it’s time to schedule the meeting to ask for your promotion, it’s important to be prepared. Make sure you have prepared the following: Your resume Your accomplishments document Your brag book Salary research A presentation to show during your meeting Finally, when working towards a promotion, it’s essential to avoid certain habits or tendencies. Here are four basic things to avoid: 1. Dishonesty/cheating at work. This could be directly lying to your boss about a project or the way something was handled with a client, taking the credit for something you didnt do, or lying about being sick when you call in sick. 2. Handling personal matters at work. This could be regularly taking personal phone calls, texting, or scheduling personal appointments during work hours. Bosses translate this as a lack of respect for the work environment and that employees dont consider their work to be important. 3. Bad attitude. Working with a negative or critical attitude can dampen the office culture, especially when most bosses try to cultivate a positive work environment. Employees with bad attitudes make that difficult or even impossible. 4. Being unreliable. Habitual tardiness, missing deadlines, meetings, or other appointments drive bosses crazy. They cant depend on this kind of employee.